As they say every cloud has a silver lining. The Covid-19 coronavirus has been hard on many sports and the people who want to watch and play them. But challenging times can get people thinking about new ways to do old things.

Take summer sports camps. For years it’s been a rite of passage for many kids to go to specific sports camps during the summer. Tennis players go to tennis camps. Football players to football camps. Soccer player to soccer camps. Synchronized swimmers to very synchronized camps. Etc. etc. etc. Camp selection could be a bit like those restaurant menus that say no substitutions allowed. Kids had to choose their path early. And those are kids who actually had the means, pre-existing skills, and moolah to go to these camps. (Moolah is a technical term for money.)

Now that the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing that’s needed has tossed traditional summer camp plans in the ball hopper, a coalition of major sports organizations have decided to try something different. The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), working with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, USA Football, U.S. Soccer, USA Baseball, U.S. Figure Skating, and the PGA of America, are putting on the Net Generation Virtual Summer Camp from today July 20 through July 24.

It’s called “Virtual” because you won’t have to travel anywhere, except maybe from the bathroom to a place where you can move around more freely. Instead, you’ll just have to log on via the USTA’s Facebook and Twitter pages for two half-hour sessions a day, one at 11:00 am ET and a second at 3:00 pm ET. It won’t be as expensive as regular camps, assuming that you don’t consider free as expensive. All of this will make the camp more accessible to more people.

“This gives people opportunities to learn sports at home and in the driveway,” explained Craig Morris USTA Chief Executive, Community Tennis. “You don’t need a coach. Many times people will already have to have a level of skill development before they reach the court. This will help them them get there.”

It’s called a “Summer Camp” because it is now the summer as time can fly when missing hair cuts. Calling it a “winter camp” would make no sense, unless, of course, you were in Australia right now.

It’s called “Net Generation,” because it’s an extension of the Net Generation Live classes that have been taking place every Friday. “Net Generation” is a play on words because tennis uses nets and it’s a tennis camp. Net Generation aims to train the next (with an “x”) generation of tennis players. And not just the next Serena Williams or Roger Federer but also the next doctors, scientists, lawyers, artists, writers, engineers, executives, teachers, accountants, farmer, etc. who happen to play tennis as well.

It’s a tennis camp. But it’s also in part a football, soccer, figure skating, baseball, and golf camp. You may wonder how that’s possible because typically there’s no tackling allowed in tennis and ice on tennis courts would make things really, really weird. Well, each day besides a tennis lesson, there will be a coach from another sport to give that sport’s lesson. Monday, the other sport will be football. Tuesday, it will be soccer. Wednesday, figure skating. Thursday, baseball. Friday, golf.

This is why two-time major league baseball All-Star Michael Cuddyer was tweeting about the camp this past week:

“This is a more holistic approach, rather than focusing just on one sport,” said Karl Davies, PhD, USTA National Manager Program Education. “This is part of the ADM, kick-starting the avenue of multi-sport play with different sports coming together. We are trying to increase physical activity and physical literacy in general. This can get more free play rolling.”

In this case, ADM doesn’t stand for “additional dealer mark-up.” Rather, it stands for the American Development Model, which, as described on the Net Generation website, is an effort by U.S. sports organizations to “apply long-term athletic development principles in order to guide parents and coaches as their players develop and mature.” This includes “curtailing early specialization, developing multi-sport athletes, and increasing youth physical activity.”

As I have covered previously for Forbes, early specialization in one sport is not a good thing. This can make sports seem more like a job than fun. It can lead to burn out and injuries from repeating the same motion. Plus, since each sport has different things to offer, you can miss out on some great experiences and learning. Additionally, learning from one sport can help your play in other sports. For example, footwork in soccer can be good for tennis. Just don’t start kicking things in tennis.

“Free play” is the idea of playing and getting exercise in a more unstructured manner, rather than a super-organized competitive situation.

“Physical literacy” is defined by SHAPE America as “the ability to move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person.”

Speaking of literacy, there will also be a word of day. It won’t be something like “floccinaucinihilipilification”, which ironically means “the estimation of something as valueless.” Instead, it will be words like listen, respect, effort, teamwork, and sportsmanship, you know very useful and good words.

“This program will be not just about activities and skill development,” Morris added. “It will also help guide self-discovery and learning.”

Legendary tennis player John McEnroe once said, “This taught me a lesson, but I’m not quite sure what it is.” Well in 2020, “this” could be the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It’s been forcing everyone to think about what they have been doing and how that can be changed. Before the pandemic hit, another epidemic was already gripping the country: physical inactivity. Part of the problem has been how youth sports has been configured, which has limited access and led to over-competitive overspecialization. Maybe in addition to bringing other bad stuff, the virus has also brought a lesson: that youth sports needs to change for good.